Chapter 20: Chapter 20

They swayed on the spot. Warm in Damon’s arms, Lilitha rested her head against his chest, listening to his pounding heart. “What’s going to happen now?”

“Much. I hope.”

Brushing his fingers through her hair, he kissed her. Lilitha sank into his embrace, letting him taste her as he wanted. He was gentle, the tip of his tongue teasing hers, brushing against her lips.

There was blood on his breath, and she could almost taste it. Then she smelled something else, a scent she couldn’t describe but had encountered before…

Once on the bushes, and once—she struggled to recall—days ago, as she lay helpless on the ground, the monster bearing down upon her.

She pulled away, eyes wide, but Damon pulled her in again, lips on her throat, and she forgot about it.

His tongue wasn’t so gentle anymore, lapping and sucking at her neck, under her chin, on the bony dip between her collarbones. Even her earlobe didn’t miss out.

Then he began tugging at her tunic. Lilitha let him pull it off.

He paused to stare at her. He was making a strange noise at the back of his throat, something like a purr. Then he took her into his arms, and Lilitha sagged against him, pushing up her breasts.

Damon leaned in, happy to take them into his mouth. Lilitha tilted her head back with a sigh.

He swirled his tongue around her left nipple, sucked it, kissed it, cherished it, before releasing her and dropping to his knees.

Lilitha braced her hands against his head as he pressed his face into her midriff, clasping her tightly against him.

“How I’ve wanted you,” he groaned. He kissed one hip, then the other. “You have no idea.”

“I have an idea,” she gasped.

He nuzzled her bellybutton, then began tugging down her skirts. She stepped out of them, then out of her underwear.

“You are mine now,” he said, and Lilitha sucked in a breath when he kissed her on her inner left thigh, “and I will honor you”—he kissed her on her inner right thigh—“and protect you.”

He kissed her right on her cleft, “And pleasure you.” He lightly sucked her and Lilitha gripped his head more tightly, knees bowing. “And adore you until the day I die.”

The firelight was dancing against his cloak. Her heart was humming in her chest. Everything felt so surreal. She needed to stop this. She needed to stop this right now.

But she couldn’t seem to control herself. It was almost as bad as the food. No. Not food. It wasn’t food!

Slowly, he stood. Pulling her against him, he kissed her long and deep. Then he tightened his arms around her and lowered her to the ground, the leaves cold and wet against her hot back.

Hovering over her, he kissed the corner of her jaw as he lightly dragged his fingers down between her breasts. He continued down along her navel, stopping between her legs.

He parted her lips, tested her wetness, found her more than willing.

Lilitha was panting.

He sat up, knees on either side of her. His cloak had fallen open, revealing a broad chest, the hard muscles in his stomach, the sweat on his skin.

Then he turned to his britches, fumbling at his drawstrings with trembling hands. Lilitha chuckled. He got them open and she stopped laughing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

It looked just the same as Mandalay’s. She wriggled out from underneath him and sat up, pulling her legs to her chest.

“It’s just that”—she licked her lips and swallowed—“will it hurt?”

“~Has~ it hurt?” he said in a low voice.

Biting her lip, she tried a smile, but it shook and fell flat. Damon dropped his hands into his lap, shielding his erection from view.

“I would never hurt you,” he told her. “It shouldn’t hurt. It ~won’t~ hurt.”

Numbly, Lilitha nodded.

“Do you trust me?”

She nodded again but couldn’t look at him. He sighed.

He pulled back, tucking his shaft back into his britches as he sat cross-legged on the ground. “Come here.” He patted his thighs.

Lilitha shuffled over, curling into his lap. He drew his cloak around her, and she gripped him. Pressing her chin into his shoulder, she brushed her wet eyes against his cloak.

The ice on Lilitha’s skin soon melted. The tears on her cheeks dried. The flames of the fire diminished to a low glow. Her heart was still hammering, but it was without fear.

Damon hadn’t said a word the entire time, simply holding her, sometimes rubbing his hands over her back, sometimes brushing his fingers through her hair or kissing her on the cheek.

Finally, she pulled away. Still, he didn’t say anything, watching as she touched her fingers lightly to his chest, letting them fall, dragging them down to his navel. She plucked at his britches.

“I’m ready,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. Pushing out of his lap, she lay upon the ground. He kicked off his boots and took off his britches, but kept his cloak and hood on. He dropped over her, hovering.

Lilitha relaxed her legs around him, and he nestled against her, pressing his face into her neck, his shaft hard against her groin. She could see the curve of a lip now, the tip of his nose.

From what she could see, he was handsome. His scent was comforting, and she closed her eyes and breathed it in.

“Tell me if it hurts and I will stop,” Damon said in her ear.

Lilitha nodded. She took a breath as his shaft prodded between his legs. She gasped as he slid inside.

He stopped. “Lilitha?”

“I’m fine, keep going.”

And he did, thrusting gently, slowly, and it didn’t hurt at all. Far from it, it was wonderful! She relaxed beneath him.

“Is it nice?” he said.

“It’s nice.”

He kissed her softly on the mouth, then pressed his face into the nape of her neck as he rocked faster. Lilitha rocked with him, pushing up her hips, trying to take him in more deeply.

It was an amazing feeling to have him inside her. Nothing like before. Nothing like with Mandalay. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him closer.

Something hot and burning ignited in her heart. They were a part of each other now, and she didn’t want to let him go.

He was starting to pant, little desperate puffs that blew lightly against her throat. He brushed his fingers through her hair, kissed her, and it was so soft that tears fell from her eyes.

He kissed her harder, his gentle thrusting turned to more desperate pounding, and Lilitha gripped him, curling her legs around his waist more tightly.

She clung to him, felt herself coming, a wave of heat rising from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.

He pressed his lips to her ear as he panted her name: “Lila, Lila, Lila.” Then he plunged hard.

He was so rigid, so long, the tip of his penis poking a spot high up that made her tingle, then burn, then melt.

With a powerful thrust, he climaxed and Lilitha gasped, his spasms pulsing against her walls, triggering her own orgasm.

Her vagina tugged wildly against him, pulling him in to a depth she hadn’t known was there.

Her legs flopped to the ground.

“How was that?” he panted in her ear.

Lilitha grinned, then laughed. Damon nuzzled her throat and hugged her tightly as he rolled onto his back, pulling her on top. He gripped her thighs, smiling with full, pink lips.

She could see him now, his jaw, his nose, even his eyes. The firelight flashed against them. They were green, like hers. Desperate to see all of him, she went to pull back his hood further.

He seized her wrist, no longer smiling.

“You must. You said you would.”

He released her. There were lines around his mouth.

He lay still, watching as she ran her fingers over his hood. There was something hard just above where she thought his left ear might be.

It ran alongside his head, ending just in front of his brow. She sat back, clutched onto herself, a chill making her shiver.

She took a deep breath and felt the other side of his head, finding the same thing.

“What are they?” she whispered.

“They’re nothing to fear.”

She swallowed, wiped her mouth. Her skin was ice cold. Releasing a breath, she tugged at his hood, but it was stuck.

“Here,” Damon said.

He raised his hands, unclipped something, and it fell back, revealing a swath of linen wrapped around his head. She could see more of his eyes now, and they were thickly lashed, gentle and worried.

Thick, dark eyebrows frowned up at her. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, the ends of his long auburn hair pooling behind him. She was right, he ~was~ handsome.

He watched her uncertainly as she began to unwrap him, lifting his head so she could get around the back.

After several passes, he seized her wrist. “No matter what you see, just know I would never hurt you.”

He let her go, and she unwound the last of it. She sat back. She’d figured what they must have been, but it was still a shock to see them.

Damon lay motionless beneath her, watching her, waiting for her to say something, for a reaction, but Lilitha was numb. She parted her lips. Air came out but there was no sound.

She cleared her throat. “What…what does this mean? ~What~ are you?”

“Surely you’ve figured it out.”

~Figured it out~. Lilitha bit down hard on her lip. She was feeling dizzy again. Her hand was trembling as she raked it through her hair.

“What are you thinking? How do you feel?” he asked.

“You’re…you’re the monster.”

“I’ve told you. I’m not a monster. ~We’re~ not monsters. ~You’re~ not a monster.”

Lilitha shook her head. “But…but you can’t be. The monster attacked me. ~You ~stopped it.”

“That was Mateus. There are two of us. Well, actually, there are four of us.” His eyes glinted into hers. “Five now.”

“Those others you spoke about,” she breathed.

She pulled away, staggering to her feet. Bending over her knees, she spat on the ground as she fought the urge to be sick. It was as bad as she’d thought. Worse.

She’d just fucked him. And she’d known! She’d kind of known all along. Her father ~was ~right. She was a devil.

“Don’t be afraid,” Damon said quietly.

The air was whistling in her lungs as she gasped. “Don’t…don’t be afraid.” She bent over her knees further, sucking in air that didn’t seem able to fill her lungs.

She gave a crazy laugh that turned into fitful sobbing.

Damon stood. Lilitha watched him, wide-eyed, the light flickering against his bare skin. Against his horns and shining green eyes.

“Peace, Lilitha,” he said, tall and naked and terrible. “You are one of us. A Diablon.”

“A-a what?”

“A Diablon. It is what we’re called.”

“I am many things.” She pointed a shaking finger at his horns. “But I’m not that.”

He ran a finger along one of them. “Well, you wouldn’t be, it’s true. These are a masculine trait.” Then he turned side-on. “This, on the other hand—”

Lilitha stared. A tail, about two feet long, swung to and fro. Lizard-like, deep red, it ended in an arrowhead, its tip sharp and probably deadly.

Lilitha ran her shaking hand over her own bottom. ~I had to cut it off…~

She shook her head. “No... no... How could it”—she released a breath—“my mother... my... my father.”

“Yes,” he said, eyes glinting. “You’re getting it.”

His tail continued to lash. His horns glinted scarlet against the firelight. He was terrifying and dreadful and beautiful all at once. She ached for him. She was repulsed by him.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Just remember that I am the same man. This is merely what I was without you knowing it, what I’ve always been, what we both are.”

“No.”

“Yes!”

“I am not a monster!” She backed away. “Oh, Damon, all those people. How could you think I could be like that?”

Damon was glaring at her, mouth hard. He didn’t move, his face like stone. She jumped when a terrible voice exploded around the forest.

“Accept who you are!” he boomed.

“I know what I am. I am human!”

His tail coiled, then lashed out like a whip, gouging a deep hole in the tree behind. “Accept who you are!”

“No!”

With a roar, he turned and snapped off a low-hanging branch, throwing it into the fire. It flared and crackled.

He stormed around the clearing, snapping off more branches, tearing up bushes, tossing logs aside. He pushed over a stunted elm, which fell to the ground with a crash.

His tail whipped around, gouging deep troughs through trunks in a spew of dust and wood chips.

Lilitha turned and ran.